The Pokémon metagame has a wide range of fanmade terminology for Pokémon roles, battle strategies and techniques. These are colloquial terms that have been invented by various sources, and are not official terms within the games themselves.

General terms

Baton Pass Chain

Continuous use of the move Baton Pass on various Pokémon in order to accumulate stat boosts, often used to boost and pass a variety of different stats that one Pokémon couldn't pass itself. A good example of a Pokémon that can set this up is Ninjask because of Speed Boost, Protect and Swords Dance.

Choice lock

A Pokémon that is locked into a certain move due to a Choice item.

Clause

Akin to House Rules, Clauses are various rules that fans apply to their battles. Since most player battles are free-for-alls, players usually agree on restrictions for moves, items and tiers. There also exist several official clauses that are usually applied to Stadium/Colosseum battles in the console connectivity games and Battle Tower challenges. Pokémon Battle Revolution is currently the only official way for players to battle with these clauses enforced by the game.

Level clause

All Pokémon used by both Trainers should be close to the same level, which is usually 50 or 100. With the advent of Diamond and Pearl, Wi-Fi battles being capable of setting Pokémon levels to 50 or 100 (rounding them up or down as necessary), and HeartGold and SoulSilver's local Flat Battles which scale down Pokémon above level 100 to 50, the Level Clause really only applies to local battles.

Hax

Something that relies more on chance than reliability or strategy. Hax can be manipulated in many different ways, including the use of items such as Quick Claw, Focus Band, BrightPowder, the use of the ability Serene Grace and the use of moves such as Fissure or Sheer Cold. Critical hits and extra effects of attacks, such as Flamethrower burning the foe, are often considered Hax. One variation of Hax is a Parahax.

HP

Usually used as an abbreviation for "Hit Points", but often refers to the move Hidden Power. For example, "HP Water" refers to a Hidden Power that is of the Water-type.

IV Battle

A scaled battle where the purpose is not actually to battle, but to observe what the Pokémon's stats will look like at a different level in order to calculate what the Pokémon's IVs are. This is typically done with freshly hatched Pokémon, as EVs don't have to be included in such calculations.

Mono Team

A Pokémon team that is entirely of one certain quality, usually type but sometimes things like species or color. These are more common in Random Pokémon Battle Revolution matches than in serious matches. This is often countered since they can bring in something that has an unadulterated type advantage. For example, one may have a team consisting only of Ghost-type Pokémon, while the opponent may have a Honchkrow with above-average Attack and Speed stats that knows moves such as Dark Pulse or Night Slash, used to easily and quickly defeat the all-Ghost team.

RNG

An abbreviation for Random Number Generator. Players often manipulate the RNG to gain increased chances of catching Shiny Pokémon and getting Pokémon with better IVs

Sleep Clause

A rule whereby the use of a sleep inducing move is forbidden if a Pokémon on the opponent's team has already been put to sleep by one of the user's Pokémon. Sleep that is induced by moves such as by Rest or abilities like Effect Spore are exempted. Pokémon Battle Revolution supports the Sleep Clause, and custom rule sets can choose to enforce it or not.

Spam

Using the same move repeatedly.

Standard rules

Type coverage

Type coverage refers to combinations of attacks that are unresisted. Common combinations for coverage are "BoltBeam" (only resisted by a few Pokémon) which is Thunderbolt and Ice Beam, or any combination of Electric-type and Ice-type attacks. Ghost-type, Dark-type, Dragon-type and Fighting-type attacks have perfect coverage, due to the fact that Ghost- and Dragon-type moves together are all resisted by only Dark- and Steel-types (Dark-types resisting Ghost and Steel-types resisting both). Both of these types are defensively weak to Fighting-type moves, meaning at best, a dual-typed Steel or Dark Pokémon will be neutral to Fighting (at worst, 4x weak). Thus, all currently known Pokémon are at least neutral to these combinations.

Pokémon sets

Common roles

Within competitive battling there are a number of categories that are used to describe a Pokémon's role within a team or battle:

Annoyer

A Pokémon used with the sole purpose of annoying the opponent and making it difficult for them to use their preferred strategy, the aim of which is to force an error. Another term used to describe a similar technique is a Paraflincher. Such Pokémon commonly have high Speed stats and/or high defensive stats, but low Attack stats: it is not uncommon for Annoyers to have no direct attack moves at all in their movesets.

Anti-Lead

A Pokémon specially chosen to counter common Leads, an Anti-Lead may be carrying a Choice Scarf to outspeed the expected lead and then use a super-effective attack. An example of a common Anti-Lead is Weavile: it has a naturally high base Speed stat of 125, it can use Taunt to prevent entry hazards and it can also use a combination of Focus Sash and Counter to KO opposing leads. Gengar is another common example, holding a Focus Sash with Counter, Destiny Bond, and Hypnosis. Forretress can also be considered an Anti-Lead, as it commonly carries Gyro Ball which is super-effective on popular leads such as Weavile and Aerodactyl. It can also deal with hazards set up by Aerodactyl with Rapid Spin, making it an effective Spinner.

Aromatherapist

Attack Lead

A Pokémon in the primary position in the team, an Attack Lead will commonly have high attacking and/or Speed stats. The aim is to inflict maximum damage on the enemy team before it can set up with stat boosts, weather effects and entry hazards.

Baton Passer

A Pokémon with Baton Pass and at least one stat-boosting move such as Swords Dance or Agility. The Baton Passer raises one or more of its stats, then uses Baton Pass to hand the effects to another Pokémon in the party. A good example of a Baton Passer is Ninjask, whose Ability Speed Boost constantly increases its Speed stat. A Baton Passer often abuses the move Protect and may use Swords Dance and/or Substitute as well. Ninjask commonly carries Substitute and a Liechi Berry so that it can Baton Pass four Speed Boosts, a Leichi boost, and possibly a few Swords Dance boosts or a Substitute. The common counter to a Baton Passer is a Hazer or Phazer, which eliminate stat boosts, thereby rendering the tactic useless. A Baton Passer could potentially counter Phazers by using Ingrain; however, only Smeargle can learn both of these moves through Sketch. Phazers that utilize Roar or Whirlwind can be evaded by Baton Passing to a Pokémon with Soundproof; however, they are also oblivious to the effects of moves such as Heal Bell and Perish Song. Multiple Baton Passers in one team can be used to create a [[#Baton Pass Chain|]].

Bulky

Choice User

This subsection refers to Pokémon that have a choice item—a group of hold items that affect in-battle move power or speed with the cost of being able to only use one move until removed from the field. A good way to counter this is Disable.

Choice Bander

A Pokémon with a moveset that usually contains four powerful physical moves and wears the hold item Choice Band. A Choice Bander usually serves either as a lead or a finisher, due to the sheer power it can dish out. Popular Choice Banders include Heracross and Terrakion.

Scarf Wearer

A Pokémon with a moveset that usually contains four powerful moves and wears the hold item Choice Scarf. A Scarf Wearer is usually a very powerful Pokémon with subpar speed compared to faster counter Pokémon that might outfight it, or is used on Revenge Killers. Popular Scarf Wearers include Heracross and Weavile.

Specs Wearer

A Pokémon with a moveset that usually contains four powerful special moves and wears the hold item Choice Specs. Like a Choice Bander, a Specs Wearer will often lead off with powerful attacks or act as a finisher. Popular Specs Wearers include Alakazam and Porygon-Z.

Cleric

As the name suggests, a Cleric is a Pokémon that utilizes Aromatherapy or Heal Bell to cure itself and its team members. Clerics are often partnered with Rest users, and are also an effective way to support an exclusively offensive Pokémon with little or no defensive capabilites. Since Aromatherapy only appears in the movesets of a number of Grass-type Pokémon and the Blissey and Clefable families, these three Pokémon are the most common Clerics. Heal Bell, meanwhile, does not affect Pokémon with the Ability Soundproof.

Counter

A Pokémon that is able to successfully switch into an opposing Pokémon (and is subsequently able to defeat it) is commonly known as that Pokémon's Counter. For example, Gliscor is a Counter to Heracross, since it resists Heracross's strongest attacks (Megahorn and Close Combat) and can defeat it easily with a Flying-type attack, such as Aerial Ace. Counters are one of the most important mechanics to consider when team-building, since the inclusion of a Pokémon-specific counter can severely affect that Pokémon's effectiveness.

DDer

Decoy

A Decoy or Death Fodder is any Pokémon that is 'sacrificed' against a strong opponent. The aim is to weaken the opponent's Pokémon before the sacrificial Pokémon is knocked out, then switch to a stronger Pokémon, preferably one whose moveset has an advantage over the opponent (see Revenge Killer). A Decoy is often used as a means of switching to a more suitable Pokémon without damaging it (see also: Pivot). A decoy can also be used to take the effect of abilities that lower stats, such as Intimidate.

Dual Screener

A Pokémon with the combination of Light Screen and Reflect in its moveset, a Dual Screener is used primarily to improve the team's defenses. An effective counter to this method is to use the move Brick Break.

F.E.A.R.

A strategy involving a low-level Pokémon (such as Rattata) holding a Focus Sash with the moves Endeavor and a damaging move with a priority greater than 0. It aims to catch the opponent off-guard when he or she sees the low-level Pokémon and attacks. The Focus Sash will activate, and the F.E.A.R. Pokémon, which will have 1 HP, will use Endeavor to attack, lowering the opponent's HP to 1. Then the F.E.A.R. Pokémon will use a priority move to finish off the opponent. Variations include using Sturdy* instead of a Focus Sash.

Glass Cannon

A Pokémon that has extremely high offensive stats, which are contrasted with its poor defensive stats and often insufficient Speed (such as Sharpedo and Rampardos). A Choice Scarf is often employed on such Pokémon to make up for their lack of sufficient Speed, but other Choice items may also be used.

Hazer

A Pokémon that has a moveset with Haze in it, a Hazer is used to eliminate any stat boosts that the opponent has used. Much like a Spiker, it can have any combination of moves; the only defining point is that it have the move Haze. Fast Pokémon and those with high defenses, such as Altaria and Articuno, make good Hazers.

Sashed

Shuffler

A Shuffler is a Pokémon with Whirlwind, Roar, Dragon Tail, or Circle Throw that forces the opponent's Pokémon to switch. They are often used as Annoyers. Usually used as a Pseudo-Hazer or in combination with entry hazards or status problems, or a combination of them.

Phazer/Pseudo-Hazer

A moveset with either Whirlwind or Roar, which is intended to force a stat-boosted Pokémon to switch out, thus removing its stat changes. A moveset with moves such as Yawn, Leech Seed, Perish Song or Charm can also be considered a Phazer; the effects of these moves are such that any sensible opponent will be forced switch out their Pokémon.

Status Shuffler

A Status Shuffler has a moveset with either Roar or Whirlwind and Toxic as well as Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp. Works by inflicting a status problem, then shuffling and repeating. They are usaully named based on the status problem they use: Parashufflers inflict paralysis, Pyroshufflers inflict burn, Toxishufflers inflict bad poison. Often used in tandem with a Spiker for best results. Countered by a Cleric, or simply by attacking each time they try to PHaze.

Spinner

A Spinner or Rapid Spinner is user of the move Rapid Spin, with the role of removing entry hazards, thereby leaving the field clear for a Sweeper. Common Rapid Spinners are Starmie and Tentacruel. The method for countering this technique is by having a Ghost-type Pokémon in play: Rapid Spin, as a Normal-type move, will have no effect in this case. Such a Pokémon is known as a Spinblocker.

RestTalker

A RestTalker, also known as a Sleep Talker or STalker, is a Pokémon with a moveset with Rest and Sleep Talk. It is used to maintain a Pokémon's health with Rest (usually with good defenses as well), but allow it to attack in the meantime with Sleep Talk. It's not a perfect strategy, as there is the chance Sleep Talk will call Rest again, but it works often enough to see use. Milotic is an excellent example of a RestTalker due to Marvel Scale. Though Milotic also has Recover, a RestTalker set is sometimes used because of its Ability Marvel Scale, although generally moves like Recover are used.

Revenge Killer

Pokémon that can switch in after an opponent has knocked out another Pokémon (with the intent of swiftly KO'ing the opponent), Revenge Killers are often equipped with Priority Moves or a Choice Scarf. For example, Weavile makes an effective revenge killer due to its high Attack stat and access to Ice Shard. Sometimes employed after 'sacrificing' a Decoy. Retaliate's effect makes it an excellent Revenge move.

Seeder

Seeders are Pokémon that use Leech Seed to force switches, drain HP to heal themselves, or wear down defensive Pokémon. They are often used with Substitute known as Subseeders. Subseeders are often fast Pokémon that repeatedly use substitute while the opponent is afflicted with leech seed. The healing of leech seed allows them to gain back the health they lost from substitute while the opponent's health is slowly worn down. Examples of Subseeders are Whimsicott and Sceptile.

Sponge

Subpasser

A moveset with Substitute and Baton Pass. Although any Pokémon that can learn Baton Pass can pass Substitutes, Pokémon with high HP are preferred so that the Substitute passed will also have a high HP. Subpassing is beneficial as it allows for a Pokémon to have a Substitute with a much higher HP than it could make itself. If such a Substitute is passed to a Wall or Tank, the opponent will have a hard time breaking the Substitute right away, allowing the target to reap the benefits of the Substitute, such as immunity to status effects. Subpasses can also pass defensive boosts to make the Substitutes even harder to break, but then that only leaves them one move for attacking, making them very vulnerable to Taunt.

Subpuncher

A moveset with Substitute and Focus Punch to avoid the flinch chance from Focus Punch. Works best with slower Pokémon as the Substitute may end up being broken the turn it's made if the Subpuncher goes first. Slightly harder to use in Double Battles where the two Pokémon could gang up on the Subpuncher to break the Substitute and hit the Pokémon. Countered by Thick Club Marowak whose Bonemerang usually does enough damage to break the Substitute on the first hit, allowing the second hit to attack the Subpuncher directly. It's also is countered by Technician Ambipom who might break the Substitute on the first hit of Double Hit.

Sweeper

A Pokémon included with the object of quickly knocking out, or "sweeping," an opponent's team. Sweepers specialize in primarily direct attacks, often with stat-boosting moves. Sweepers are characterized by high Speed and/or offensive stats, while often having poor defensive stats and HP. There are three types of sweeper: physical, special and mixed. Physical sweepers use physical moves, special sweepers use special moves, and mixed sweepers use both. Mixed sweepers can also be used as wall breakers, which are Pokémon whose attacks are specifically chosen to take down common walls, like Close Combat for Blissey or Fire Blast for Skarmory. Common sweeper counters are bulky Pokémon with large defensive stats and priority moves.

Tank

A Pokémon that can take hits and still fight back. Similar to a Wall in that it is often very difficult to defeat, a Tank can still threaten the opponent offensively. Some common Tanks are Bronzong, Musharna and Ferrothorn.

Thunderdancer

Trapper

A Pokémon designed to trap a Pokémon for one reason or another. Moves such as Mean Look and Spider Web are standard trapping moves but moves such as Wrap and Fire Spin are also used sometimes. May be used in tandem with Toxic or Curse (Ghost version) to sap the opponent's health or Perish Song for a guaranteed knockout. Certain abilities, such as Shadow Tag, Magnet Pull and Arena Trap, trap automatically. The general idea is to make both switching out and staying in an undesirable option for the opponent.

Wall

A Pokémon with a very high defensive stat, a Wall is used to block attacks of that kind (for example, a Physical Wall would block physical attacks). A good example would be Skarmory who is considered as a Physical Wall. Almost any Pokémon with a high enough Defence or Special Defence stat can be used as a Wall.

Specific sets

Sets that are only seen on one to several Pokémon or are best known on a single Pokémon.

Atmacune

Bellyzard

A moveset created specifically for the Charizard evolution family. The moveset contains Belly Drum, Substitute, Fire Punch or Flare Blitz and any other move. The held item is usually a Salac Berry. Belly Drum followed by Substitute maximizes the Attack stat and lowers HP enough to activate Blaze and the Salac Berry as long as Charizard's HP is divisible by 4. The power of Charizard's Fire-type moves is increased, Attack is maximized and Speed is raised enough to possibly attack first. This results in an incredibly powerful physical Fire-type attack. Stealth Rock is a reliable way to counter this strategy.

Breloomurder

Works with a Breloom that has Spore, Focus Punch, Substitute, and Facade, the Poison Heal Ability, while holding a Toxic Orb. After using Spore, Breloom is free to repeatedly charge and use a STAB Focus Punch on the sleeping foe. Furthermore, due to the poison induced by the held Toxic Orb, Facade's power is drastically increased, and Breloom's Ability heals it every turn. Seed Bomb is sometimes used instead of Substitute to allow the user to hit Ghost-type Pokémon.

CalmCune

A Suicune with Calm Mind. Rest is often also used. A very powerful and over-used Pokémon due to Suicune's two weaknesses being special types prior to the physical/special split, and as a result its effectiveness has been reduced with Generation IV's Attack/Special split. Some counters include a Hazer or PHazer, a strong physical Electric- or Grass-type attack and the move Encore.

Celetran

A combination of Celebi and Heatran used in the same team, this works because Celebi covers all of Heatran's weaknesses and Heatran covers all of Celebi's weaknesses. Both of these Pokémon have mixed Wall stats, they can take on both physical and special hits.

There are other combinations like this, such as Latias or Latios and a Steel-type (a combination that resists every type in the game) though these combinations are not as well known.

ChainChomp

Garchomp that is designed as a Mixed Sweeper with the moves Draco Meteor and Fire Blast. The intention of this Pokémon is catching the opponent off guard as they send in a standard Physical Wall by taking advantage of most Physical Walls lacking a good Special Defense stat. A variation of this set can also be used with Salamence.

Crocune

Curselax

A moveset that uses Curse and Rest on an already slow Pokémon to ignore the Speed drop. Although Snorlax is the most common user (hence the name), it can also appear on other Pokémon (provided they aren't of the Ghost-type). Especially useful in a team using Trick Room as the Speed drops become Speed boosts instead.

LeadApe

An Infernape used as a lead. Commonly knowing the moves Fake Out, Stealth Rock, Fire Blast, and Close Combat and holding a Focus Sash. Infernape is a popular lead for its ability to set up an entry hazard while generally knocking out the opponent's lead and preventing them from setting up Stealth Rock or Spikes. This Infernape set is used with a Naive or Hasty nature to boost Speed while allowing Fire Blast, a special move, and Close Combat, a physical move, to do maximum damage. Generally, all Infernape's effort values for this set are invested into Attack, Special Attack, and Speed.

PowerKing

A risky but extremely powerful double-battle strategy requiring three Pokémon and several steps. On the first turn a Medicham with Pure Power and low defenses is sent out with a fast and moderately defensive Pokémon with Skill Swap. The Medicham will be knocked out, but not before Skill Swap is used on it. An AdamantSlaking with the moves Endure, Reversal, Flail, Shadow Claw and the item Salac Berry is sent out in replacement of the Medicham. The second turn is the riskiest turn, as the opponent must attack the Slaking. The Pokémon with Skill Swap must use it on the Slaking and the Slaking must use Endure. At this point, Flail will have a power of 200 with STAB, Reversal can be used against Steel- and Rock-type Pokémon, and Shadow Claw can be used to hit Ghost-type Pokémon. A less powerful but less risky version can be done with a Regigigas.

ScarfChomp

Skarmbliss

A combination of Skarmory and Blissey used in the same team, which is designed to make use of Skarmory's high Defense stat and numerous resistances, as well as Blissey's high Special Defense stat and extraordinary HP stat. It is very difficult to beat if one is not prepared, so most teams carry a Skarmbliss counter. This combination does not work as well in Generation IV because of the physical/special split. In Generation III, Skarmory's weaknesses were special, so Blissey could cover those weaknesses well, and Blissey's weakness was physical so Skarmory took that well. Due to the physical/special split, it isn't as reliable.

SpecsMence

Suicide Spiker/Rocker

A Forretress with the moveset consisting of Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes and Explosion. Set up all the traps then use Explosion so the next Pokémon has to deal with the brunt of the attacks of the spikes taking up to 50% of their HP and being badly poisoned. Works well with a Shuffler to make all of the opponent's Pokémon suffer.

Suicide Lead

A moveset in which the user is equipped with a Focus Sash. The purpose of this moveset is to set up Stealth Rock, while anticipating an attack that could OHKO the user, but survives with the Focus Sash. This is a very common moveset for leading Azelf and Aerodactyl.

TechniLoom

TyraniBoah

A moveset specifically for Tyranitar (but also viable on others) with the Subpuncher combo and the BoltBeam (or in Tyranitar's case, BoltCrunch) combo. It is also an example of very advanced battling techniques on both sides, as it requires the player to predict that the opponent will predict the next attack and switch to something resistant to it. An example of this would be if the opponent has a Salamence in play and expects the player to use Ice Beam and thus switches to a Starmie. Predicting the switch, the player actually select Thunderbolt or Crunch and knocks out the Starmie on the switch-in.

Never-Used. A tier of the metagame. It is currently the lowest tier to date, not counting NFE. This tier first appeared in Generation III.

NFE

Not an actual tier, but a term used to describe Pokémon that are not fully evolved, and thus should not be used competitively until they evolve. There are some NFEs that can viably be used competitively, namely:

Some NFEs do exactly the same as their evolution. These may also be used competitively, but only in lower tiers than their evolution. An example of this is Munchlax in NU. There are some Pokémon that work in OU that are NFEs, such as Porygon2, because it fits in differently from its evolution, Porygon-Z. Several other NFE Pokémon became viable, even in OU, with the Eviolite, with the most notable being Chansey.